Field of the Invention
This invention relates to chalk line apparatus and, more particularly, to a chalk line apparatus having a housing in which a supply of flexible line is stored and from which the line can be paid out.
Background Art
A multitude of different chalk line apparatus is currently available, particularly for the construction trade. Common to most of these apparatus is a housing with an internal space within which a flexible line storage spool is located. A drive assembly, operable through an external handle, is used to turn the spool around its axis to progressively wrap line around the spool core to effect retrieval thereof. The line extends from the spool to externally of the housing for use. A supply of chalk within the internal space contacts the accumulated line on the spool and may also treat the line portion extending from the spool to an outlet opening at the front of the housing.
The housing has different sizes and shapes based upon the particular job requirements. For applications requiring use of large quantities of chalk, it is known to provide a housing with a large capacity internal space. These housings may incorporate a graspable handle for transportation and handling in use.
A more common configuration has a body around which a user's hand can be wrapped to facilitate both transportation and use of the apparatus. A known shape is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,299 entitled “Chalk Line Holder”. The tapered forward housing region in this design facilitates handling of the housing body as paid out line is tensioned, preparatory to snapping a line. While the locally front tapered region facilitates handling, a user's palm region is still required to wrap around a relatively wide mid-portion of the housing. This may be awkward or uncomfortable for a user who does not have a relatively large hand.
It is common for users of the above type of chalk line apparatus to stow the apparatus when not in use in a tool holder, such as those suspended at a user's waist on his/her belt. The front taper facilitates initial entry of the housing body into these receptacles. However, this sliding entry into the tool receptacle may be inhibited by the wide mid-length dimension of the housing body as well as the projecting handle that is part of the actuator for the spool.
While narrower housing body configurations currently exist and to some degree address the above problems, those persons using existing designs still contend with these problems. A typical handle will generally have an elongate body with a graspable component at one end thereof. The opposite end is connected to the drive component on the drive assembly. While provision is often made for the handle to be placed in a stored state, wherein the graspable component on the handle nests in a receptacle in the housing, the entire handle still projects upwardly and may obstruct smooth transitioning of the apparatus into a storage space in a complementarily-shaped receptacle. This is particularly a problem since the handles oftentimes project upwardly a significant distance at a location spaced a short distance rearwardly from the front leading end of the housing body. The tapered front region of the housing body may slide only a short distance in before the handle encounters a part of the tool storage device or other object therewithin.
Further, the combined shape of the housing body and actuator handle may make grasping of the apparatus in a user's hand inconvenient and/or uncomfortable.
In spite of the large volume of chalk line apparatus that are utilized by both professionals and homeowners, chalk line apparatus generally are constructed so that users must contend with one or more of the above problems. The industry continues to seek out better alternative designs.